The 10 best food and cooking shows currently available on Netflix

Irrespective of whether you enjoy cooking or not, one cannot disagree with the fact that good food brings about profound satisfaction. There is nothing quite like coming back to our homes after a tough day in the office and then gorging on mouthwatering, delicious food.

There’s also no denying the certainty that there’s nothing quite like good food to get over our fills of hunger with; it is the solution for everything and anything.

With the winter almost here now, this counts as the perfect time to make ourselves comfortable under the blankets and get some long-pending binge-watching done. Any ideas on what could make this a whole lot better though? That’s right, it has to be food!

If you just like sitting around and lazing about like most of us, the hugely impressive collection of food and cooking shows currently streaming on Netflix can surely help our cases. These shows, showcasing the best of everything—from dirt-cheap street food to hearty meals prepared in the finest restaurants—and sweeping countries like Japan and India; promise to tantalise your tastebuds and make you crave gastronomical delicacies as soon as possible.

Here, we’ve plucked out the best ten food and cooking shows streaming on Netflix right now. No more waiting, hop on!

The 10 best food shows on Netflix:

10. Sugar Rush Christmas

With the festive season fast approaching, it’s the favourite parts of Sugar Rush—with a holly-jolly holiday twist—in this Christmas-themed spin on competitive baking. Especially if you’re someone who digs desserts, you’re in for a sweet treat with this one with glimpses of creativity and food craft well put together.

The second season of this popular American baking reality streaming television series came to Netflix early this month and features four professional teams of two competing in a baking competition for a prize of $10,000 where they compete in baking cakes, cupcakes, and confections.

9. Cooking on High

Now this one’s quite an oddball among the others to be featured on this list. Cooking on High, as the name suggests, is an unusual cooking competition show that sees expert chefs make sumptuous meals with cannabis while a judging panel of weed enthusiasts get stoned. The guest chefs are professional cannabis cooks whose knowledge of infused food take a central role in their careers as private chefs and medicinal marijuana educators.

Although panned by the critics, the novelty of the show’s idea should be noted down. It is indeed quite lovely, funny and comfortably buzzed, especially Ngaio Bealum, the show’s resident deliverer of pot factoids and former co-host of the online series Cannabis Planet.

8. Million Pound Menu

In Million Pound Menu, participants try to convince a jury that their new restaurant ideas could work. In each episode of the first series, two new restaurant ideas get their own pop-up in Manchester in an attempt to gain backing from the investors.

The aspiring chefs have three days to plead their case, during which paying customers come in and try out the food under the observing eyes of the potential investors. The authenticity of the situation displays the first baby steps for the next big thing in the restaurant world.

7. The American Barbecue Showdown

Streaming on Netflix, The American Barbecue Showdown is a show about pit-masters and their undeniable adroitness when it comes to the craft. There are challenges in the way of grabbing the title of The American Barbecue Showdown because sometimes there is a time constraint, and sometimes it is something else.

Competitive and wholesome, recreating recipes that have been passed down generation after generation is, anyway, quite a task and having a time constraint hovering over your head surely does not make it easier.

6. Nailed It!

Heavily acclaimed, and receiver of multiple Primetime Emmy Awards, Nailed It! is a bake-off competition in the style of reality television, where three amateur bakers compete to replicate complicated cakes and confectionery to win a $10,000 cash prize and a “Nailed It!” trophy.

Inspired by the craze of people trying and failing to make elaborate cakes they found on the Internet, Nailed It! is playful and ridiculously fun. From the hilarious Nicole Byer and her humorous rapport with Jacques Torres and everyone else on the show to the horrible recreations, it’s all a delight.

5. Cooked

In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores food past and present through the four elemental categories — fire, water, air and earth. The series is based on Pollan’s book with the same title. It goes beyond how to prepare a meal and looked into cultural changes and the significance of food.

An examination of the primal human need to cook and a clarion call for a return to the kitchen, each episode of the documentary show focuses on a different natural element and its relationship to both ancient and modern cooking methods.

4. Street Food

Street Food brings viewers to some of the world’s most vibrant cities, where the rich culture of street food is explored. From the hawker stalls of Singapore to the food carts of India, episodes highlight the stories of perseverance and culture that bring life to various countries’ cuisine.

With each episode, you experience the story of street food, but it centres around a greater story, the personal story of the chef, the cook that pours their heart into food and how it also provides an exchange for their livelihood. This documentary series is extremely well done from a cinematic point of view and is worth the watch.

3. The Chef Show

The Chef Show features actor-director Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi as they, “experiment with their favourite recipes and techniques, baking, cooking, exploring and collaborating with some bold-face names in the entertainment and culinary world.”

Having initially worked together in Favreau’s 2014 film Chef, the two reunited for this cooking travelogue series, as they travel to different locales around the world and celebrate different flavours, cultures and people. They experiment with their favourite recipes and techniques, collaborating with some of the biggest names in the entertainment and culinary industries. Favreau and Choi not only embrace their passion for food, but they also showcase their love of bringing people together for a delicious meal.

2. Chef’s Table

In this Emmy-nominated series Chef’s Table, some of the most renowned chefs in the world share their deeply personal stories, inspirations, and unique styles. The chef’s discipline and culinary talents are explored while he or she prepares an awe-inspiring creation.

Each episode of the series focuses on a specific chef and explores their personal philosophies and approach to cooking. Creator David Gelb considers it a follow-up to his documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Both of them documentaries, they make use of cinematography and production techniques based on traditional filmmaking rather than reality television.

1. Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories

For those who have yet to watch the show, Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories is a Japanese TV series inspired by a best-selling manga which focuses on a chef, known as “The Master” who runs a small diner in Tokyo and his connections with his customers from all walks of life.

Each episode starts with The Master preparing a specific dish upon the request of his customer and there we learn about their life story. It is essentially a show about human connections and the healing powers of food – in the case of Midnight Diner: Japanese comfort food.